Two plus years and 25,000 miles, time to re apply sealant. So thorough wash, clay prep and check results. It came up well, no swirls or marks and good colour depth so no need to machine or hand polish. Applied Chemical Guys Jet Seal which gives one year protection. May also top with CG Butter Wet Wax next wash but for the moment it's just fine. This is the fourth car I have done this summer the others needed machine polishing to varying degrees but the one thing that always amazes me is the degree of contamination that is lifted through the claying process. My sons two year old white Polo GTI was covered especially on the flat surfaces, he lives in a city where fallout from surroundings is high. In the case of my Macan the most contaminated areas were rear hatch and doors below the crease line. Once clay process is completed the whole car will feel showroom smooth to the touch, you can then apply liquid sealant or wax and buff over so easily, very satisfying.
Check out the pictures

Just clayed and re-sealed

Just fold until clean and continue

Contamination lifted

New Clays and lubricant

Clayed then 3 stages machine polish but it had not been done since new

Last edited by MikeM on Thu Jul 26, 2018 7:39 am, edited 1 time in total.

What is important when using a clay bar is to remove all the residue left by the clay bar, you can't see most of it. There are many products available that fall into the category of 'paint preparation', usually alcohol based, and then the paint can be sealed or waxed.

Clay bar does a great job but sounds like you were mostly removing tar when it's mostly on the rear and lower panels. Could have given it a rub with tar remover first to ease the process followed by a spray on fallout remover. Then a quick rub with clay bar will remove any remaining residue and your paint will be silky smooth.